Slide fasteners



Jan. 20, 1970 G. WALDES 3,490,111

SLIDE FASTENERS Filed June 15, 1968 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 ATTORNEY Jan. 20, 1970 e. WALDES 3,490,111

SLIDE FASTENERS Filed June 13, 1968 2 Sheets-Sheet a ZNVENTOR ATTORNEY United States Patent US. Cl. 24-20513 16 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A novel design of folded plastic fastener-element blank for a slide fastener or zipper of the so-called tapeless category. The structure and configuration of the fastener elements formed from said blanks provides that the working thickness of said elements is independent of the thickness of the fabric or the make-up of the garment edge about which the fastener elements are folded to edgeembracing relation, that the fastener slider rides on rigid fastener element portions of uniform thickness, and that the stitches by which the elements are finally sewn to the garment edge are wholly outside the path of slider travel and thus not subject to wear by contact of the slider therewith.

This invention relates to improvements in slide fasteners and more particularly in that category thereof known as tapeless slide fasteners as such are exemplified by patents to Winterhalter No. 2,380,623, dated July 31, 1945, and my prior Patent No. 3,302,259, dated Feb. 7, 1967.

A major object of the present invention is that of improving the design of existing folded plastic-element slide fasteners or zippers, and more especially of the fastener elements of the chains or stringers which with the slider for opening and closing the fastener constitute the principal parts thereof, with a view to providing same with all of the advantages of a tapeless zipper or slide fastener, namely, saving in cost of the conventional fastener tapes and of dyeing the tape with all of the disadvantages thereof in terms of tape shrinkage and loss of color, possible non-compatibility of the tapes to garment material, reduction of freight costs and storage requirements, the elimination of the problem of finished zippers becoming obsolescent because of changes in shades of tape color, etc., all as generally explained in my aforesaid Patent No. 3,302,259.

Another important object of my present invention is again to improve the design of existing folded plasticelement zippers, and particularly of the individual fastener elements of the chains or stringers thereof, with a view to providing that the stitches which secure the chains or stringers to the material of the garment extending along the edge of its opening to be opened and closed by said fastener, are fully protected against wear likely to be caused by said stitiches being rubbed by the fastener slider, and further of providing that the slider will always run (slide) directly on rigid fastener-element portions of uniform thickness, which thickness is wholly independent of thickness of the material of the garment.

The above and other objects and features of advantage of a tapeless slide fastener employing folded plastic fas tener elements of the improved design according to the in- ICC vention will appear or be obvious from the following detailed description thereof, taken with the accompanying illustrative drawings, wherein FIGS. 1-4 are views illustrative of a known type of folded plastic fastener element and Zipper stringer employing same which the present invention seeks to improve, of which FIG. 1 is a fragmentary plan view of a ladder of the plastic fastener elements in embryo (hereinafter referred to for convenience as fastener-element blanks) secured in fixedly spaced relation by cords about which said blanks are molded and prior to the folding thereof about the edge of their carrying tape, FIG. 2 is an edge view of the ladder of fastener-element blanks shown in FIG.1, FIG. 3 is a view similar to FIG. 1 but illustrating the zipper stringer provided by folding of the fastenerelement blanks shown in FIG. 1 about an edge of the stringer tape, and FIG. 4 is a broken-away section taken through the finished folded plastic-element zipper stringer formed from the ladder shown in FIG. 1;

FIGS. 5 and 6 are views corresponding to FIGS. 1 and 2, which illustrate the improved design of the foldable plastic fastener-element blanks and the manner of their connection one to the other, according to the present invention;

FIG. 7 is an enlarged section taken through an assembled zipper stringer of the invention shown to be applied directly to the edge of a garment opening for which the finished zipper functions as a closure;

FIGS. 8, 9 and 10 are views corresponding to FIGS. 5, 6 and 7, respectively, which illustrate a modified design of fastener element blank and the resulting tapeless zipper stringer fashioned therefrom according to the invention;

FIGS. 11 and 12 are fragmentary detail views illustrating supplementary structural features which may be incorporated into the fastener-element blanks shown in each of FIGS. 5 and ,8; and

FIG. 13 is a fragmentary detail view which illustrates a further supplementary feature of the invention which may be optionally employed, namely, that of connecting the outboard ends of each two fastener-element blanks by a bridge extending therebetween.

Referring to the drawings in detail, such (FIGS. 7 and 10 in particular) illustrate the improved zipper stringer employing folded plastic fastener elements of the novel design (FIGS. 5, 6 and FIGS. 8, 9) according to the present invention, against the background of a known type of zipper stringer (FIGS. 3 and 4) similarly employing folded plastic fastener elements whose configuration before folding is shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. More particularly, FIGS. 1 and 2 illustrate in plan and side or end view respectively the configuration of the fastener-element blanks (designated 10) employed in the known folded plastic-element zipper prior to their being folded over the edge of a carrying tape 12 (FIG. 4), and further illustrate that said fastener-element blanks 10 are connected together in ladder-like formation by cords 14a, 14b which extend through the outboard ends of said blanks, which ends for this purpose are relatively enlarged, having bosslike configuration.

It will be noted from FIG. 2 that as formed the fastener-element blanks 10 are characterized by a fiat coplanar under surface designated 10a which extends the 3 full length of said blanks or, stated otherwise, the full width of the ladder. In assembly, the ladder of fastenerelement blanks is folded over an edge of said tape 12, the folding being about a line of fold coinciding with the center line of the ladder and hence extending through the coupling heads 16 provided by said folded blanks.

In such known construction, when the fastener-element blanks 10 are folded over the edge of the tape 12 as in FIG. 4, the flat under face 10a of the blanks engage flat against both the upper and under faces of the tape 12 and hence it becomes evident that the thickness of said tape determines the overall chain thickness t and hence the depth of the channel of the slider through which the fastener elements move relatively when the final zipper is opened and closed by movement of the slider therealong in proper direction.

Further, as an incident to the known zipper stringer construction under consideration, the facing edges of the spaced-apart slider side-flanges which define the side openings to the channel of the slider must always ride or track directly on the tape 12 and this along lines which are disposed relatively outwardly of the line of stitches 18 by which the Zipper chain is sewn to its tape. Accordingly, such stitches must of necessity be disposed within the confines of the slider channel and hence likely to be worn by contact of slider parts therewith. Yet a further objectionable feature of the prior zipper stringer design is that, since the fastener-element blanks thereof embrace a tape of fabric material, the aforesaid overall thickness t of the assembled stringer is not necessarily uniform, and the so-folded plastic fastener elements are also less rigid than those of a stringer whose fastener-elements blanks do not fold on and embrace the tape.

Referring now to FIGS. and 6 illustrating the configuration in plan and end view of the plastic fastenerelement blanks 20 according to the present improved design thereof, it will first be noted that said blanks have greater length than the corresponding blanks of the prior design; that rather than being connected together in ladder formation by a single pair of cords passing through their outboard ends only, said blanks are instead connected by outer and inner pairs of cords 22a, 22b and 24a, 24b, of which the cords of the outer pair extend through boss-like formations provided at said outboard ends and the cords 24a, 24b of the inner pair extend through relatively short-length thick knee portions 26a, 26b with which the blank legs, i.e. the half length portions of the blanks which extend outwardly and oppositely from their centrally disposed coupling head portions 28, are provided in their intermediate length portions and which are de fined in part by fiat coplanar under faces 30a, 30b; that the outer-end portions 32a, 32b of said blank legs not only incline bodily away from said knee portions but also they have recessed under faces 34a, 34b as results in said end portions being effectively thinned compared to all leg portions disposed inwardly thereof; and that said knee portions 26a, 26b have stepped thickness as provides the upper faces thereof with outwardly facing shoulders 36a, 36b disposed between inner-end knee portions of greater thickness through which said cords 24a, 24b of the inner pair thereof pass and outer-end knee portions of lesser thickness having flat coplanar upper faces 38a, 3812 which overlie and are substantially parallel with the at coplanan-r under faces 30a, 30b of said knee portions.

The above described structure and configuration of the fastener-element blanks are favorable to said blanks being secured in slide-fastener zipper-forming relationship directly to the material of the garment extending along an edge of an opening therein to be opened and closed by operation of a conventional slide-fastener slider, with assurance that the overall thickness of the slider will always be independent of the thickness of the garment material; that the slider will always ride on parts of the fastener elements having uniform thickness; and that the threads of the lines of stitches which secure the fastenerelement blanks to the garment edge in their final fastenerelement form are wholly out of the path of the slider and hence not subject to wear by the slider rubbing same. More particularly, when a ladder of the fastener element blanks 20 is properly folded about its longitudinal center line to cause the outer leg portions 32a, 32b of said blanks to embrace the plain or as shown the doubled-over (the choice in general depending on the thickness of the garment fabric) edge 40 of a garment opening as in FIG. 7 (which illustrates a complete slide fastener made from two companion stringers of the invention folded as aforesaid), the fiat, initially coplanar under surfaces 30a, 30b of the element blanks will engage flush with one another, thus to rigidify the so-formed element as a whole; the material of said garment edge will be accommodated Within the flexible pocket provided therefor by the recessed under faces of said outer-end leg portions 32a, 321; now disposed in overlying-underlying relation; the lines of stitches 42a, 42b which secure the end portions of the fastener elements which directly embrace the garment edge are disposed well to the side of the line of slider travel; and the facing edges of the slider flanges which define the side opening to the slider channel will ride on the uniformly spaced fiat track-surfaces 38a, 38b of the fastener elements, in manner generally similar to that disclosed and claimed in my aforesaid Patent No. 3,302,259.

In short, a folded plastic slide-fastener or zipper stringer made of folded fastener-element blanks having the improved design of the present invention onvercomes in simple but highly effective manner the objections and drawbacks of the prior folded plastic stringer as described and illustrated in FIGS. 1-4 of the drawing herein.

In connection with the use of plural pairs of cords to connect the fastener-element blanks in ladder formation as proposed in the foregoing, it is explained that because the fastener blanks 20 are relatively elongated, the outer pair of cords 22a, 22b, acting in concert With the inner pair 24a, 24b thereof, are of advantage in providing the necessary control against the element blanks turning with respect to one another during sewing thereof (after folding) to the fabric of the garment edge. In short, the provision of the plural pairs of cords maintains not only the blanks but also the final fastener elements formed therefrom as the result of their being folded, in parallelism.

Now referring to FIGS. 810 inclusive, such illustrate a slightly modified structure and configuration of the fastener-element blanks, according to which the flat under faces of the knees 26a, 26b are extended (in outward direction as indicated by the reference numerals 30x, 30y) to the outboard ends of the leg portions designated 32x, 32y thereof and the upper faces of the leg portions are recessed as designated at 34x, 34y. Such a modified outer leg configuration provides, when the blanks are folded to bring their said flat under faces 30x, 30y together and thereupon their outer or attaching ends are sandwiched between the two plies or layers 40a, 40b making up the garment edge as in FIG. 10, for the formation of outwardly facing pockets, which by accommodating the individual layers, makes flattening of the overall fastener and firm securement of said layers.

FIG. 11 illustrates that if desired or considered necessary, the fastener-element blanks 20 of either of the FIGS. 5 and 8 forms may each be provided with pinor dowel-like side extensions 50a, 50b serving as elementspacers which maintain the fastener element blanks and thereafter the elements formed thereby in properly spaced relation, i.e. at the proper pitch distance from one another. The function of such side extensions is thus opposite to that of the pairs of cords 22a, 22b and 24a, 2417, since the latter serve to prevent the element blanks and the final elements from pulling apart.

Preferably, the outer leg portions 32a, 32b (FIG. 6) and 32x, 32y (FIG. 8) of the fastener-element blanks are formed sufliciently thin as permits the stitches of the lines 42a, 42b thereof to be sewn through same. Such is a feature of advantage as it permits sewing of the fastener elements to the fabric of the garment by any suitable random-stitch sewing machine and thus sewing at the higher speeds and linear output than was earlier possible with such machines.

Although one outer line of stitches designated 42b in FIGS. 7 and 10 has been indicated, a double line of such stitches may be employed as positively insures against any possible twisting of the fastener elements.

While it is preferred that all sewing be through the element outer leg portions as aforesaid, it may be desired for certain applications requiring a different stitch pattern to sew around said elements. For such applications, the side edges of the fastener-element blanks may be provided with one or more pairs of stitch-retaining notches (two spaced pairs of edge notches designated 44a, 44b and 46a, 46b being shown in FIG. 12) which serve to retain the stitches sewn around the elements in proper position.

Although the fastener-element blanks of the ladders thereof shown in FIGS. 5 and 8 are wholly independent of one another as formed, it is also within the purview of the invention to secure adjacent pairs of blanks to one another as by integral plastic bridges 48 (FIG. 13) extending between the outer-leg portions of each tWo blanks. Such is a feature of advantage when random sewing of the folded blanks to the material of the garment edges is practiced, as the bridges insure that any leg of each connected pair thereof that is missed in the sewing operation will derive some support from the next adjacent leg of said pair.

Without further description, it is thought that the above description and accompanying drawing provides an adequate disclosure of the improved design of both a folded plastic fastener-element blank for a tapeless slide fastener or zipper stringer and the final tapeless zipper chain or stringer made therefrom according to the present invention. However, it is to be understood that as many changes could be made in carrying out the above constructions without departing from the scope of the invention, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

I claim:

1. A slide fastener or zipper comprising a pair of tapeless stringers each consisting of a plurality of folded plastic fastener elements disposed in row formation and connected by inner and outer pairs of longitudinally extending cords, the fastener elements of the two rows thereof being oppositely disposed and each having a centrally disposed coupling head portion adapted to be engaged with and disengaged from coupling head portions of oppositely disposed fastener elements and leg portions disposed in overlying-underlying relationship and adapted for securement to the edge portion of a garment extending along an opening therein, said fastener elements each further having relatively front and rear outer-face portions which are disposed intermediate the cords of said outer and inner pairs and are parallel to one another, said parallel outer-face portions providing rigid, spaced-apart upper and under track surfaces on which the slider for engaging and disengaging the coupling heads of the oppositely disposed fastener elements is adapted to ride.

2. A slide fastener or zipper according to claim 1, wherein said parallel outer-face portions are provided on and in part define the relatively outer sides of thick knee portions from which said leg portions extend as continuations thereof.

3. A slide fastener or zipper according to claim 2, wherein said knee portions are further defined on their inner sides by flat planar surfaces which directly engage on one another.

4. A slide fastener or zipper according to claim 3, wherein said leg portions have outer-end, inner-face recesses which together form a pocket for the reception of said garment edge, the construction and arrangement being such that the thickness of the engaging knee portions of the fastener elements determines the effective thickness of the slide fastener as a whole.

5. A slide fastener or zipper according to claim 3, wherein said leg portions have outer-end, outer-face recesses which provide for the seating of plies of garment edge fabric extending over on to said recessed outer-end leg portions and between which said recessed leg portions are interposed.

6. A slide fastener or zipper according to claim 1, wherein said leg portions have the thinness adjacent their relatively outer ends requisite to their being sewn through by the conventional sewing machine employed to sew plastic fastener elements to their carrying fabric member.

7. A slide fastener or zipper according to claim 1, wherein said leg portions are provided adjacent their relatively outer ends with edge notches adapted to receive and fix the threads of stitches by which said fastener elements are sewn to the garment edge.

8. A slide fastener or zipper according to claim 1, wherein said leg portions are provided adjacent their outer ends with side-edge protrusions extending in opposite directions therefrom, said protrusions being so located and having such length that the protrusions of adjacent fastener-element leg portions abut one another and thereby space said adjacent leg portions one from the other.

9. A ladder of plastic fastener-element blanks for use in producing folded plastic-element tapeless slide fastener stringers comprising: a plurality of plastic fastener-element blanks connected together in parallel relation by inner and outer pairs of cords, said blanks each having a central couplinghead portion and half-length portions extending relatively outwardly in opposite directions therefrom, said half-length portions having thickened intermediate-length portions through which the cords of the inner pair pass and which are defined in part by flat, coplanar upper faces which upon folding of said blanks about the longitudinal center line of the ladder define a pair of upper and under track surfaces on which a slider serving to open and close the fastener is adapted to ride, at least the outer-end length portions of said half-length portions when brought together upon folding of said blanks providing means for securing the folded blanks to the edge of a garment opening.

10. A ladder of plastic fastener-element blanks according to claim 9, wherein said thickened portions are further defined by flat, coplanar under surfaces which are parallel to said upper faces and are adapted to engage one against the other upon folding of said blanks as aforesaid.

11. A ladder of plastic fastener-element blanks ac cording to claim 9, wherein said outer-end length portions are inclined to said thickened intermediate-length portions of said blank half-length portions.

12. A ladder of plastic fastener-element blanks according to claim 11, wherein said outer-end length portions have enlarged end formations through which the cords of the outer pair pass and further have recessed under faces which together define a pocket for the reception of a garment edge when said blanks are folded as aforesaid.

13. A ladder of plastic fastener elements according to claim 9, wherein said outer-end length portions of the blanks are thin to a degree permitting securing stitches to be passed therethrough.

14. A ladder of plastic fastener elements according to claim 9, wherein said outer-end length portions of the blanks have notches in their side edges for locating and fixing the position of stitches employed to secure the folded blanks to said garment edge.

15. A ladder of plastic fastener elements according to claim 9, wherein said outer-end length portions of the blanks of each successive pair thereof are connected by a bridge of plastic material.

16. A ladder of plastic fastener elements according to claim 9, wherein the blanks are provided with oppositely extending, short-length protrusions on their side edges, the protrusions of each two adjacent blanks abutting one another and thereby maintaining a predetermined spacing of said blanks.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS BERNARD A. GELAK, Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 

